Leanne Michael L U X E lifestyle design

Thank you ever so kindly Martine as it was such a fun project to be part of! I wish you nothing but success with your newly designed short term rental and look forward to being part of the continued transformational plan.

Thank you ever so kindly Myra, for sharing such kind sentiments about our projects over the years together! I too am so very thrilled with the results we've accomplished. More importantly, I am grateful and over joyed with your ongoing trust and the continued opportunity of elevating your homes to the level of comfort, style and sophistication you've always desired.
It's been such fun! Thank you, Thank you!

Oh Deb, I am so delighted and humbled by your sentiments! It truly was my absolute pleasure to design a kitchen that complements your Spanish historical home so perfectly along with meeting the needs of your busy lifestyle! Thank you, thank you!

My absolute pleasure Katrina!
I too enjoyed working with you and Tim to create an interesting yet timeless kitchen for you both to enjoy for many, many years to come! Wishing you both happiness in your new space!

Ohhhh, thank you so much Jenna!
It was and is still an absolute pleasure to help you with this beach house project! I truly appreciate that you allowed me the opportunity to bring color into your world and create a relaxing and inspiring environment for you to enjoy each day well into the remainder of your retirement years. Many blessings to you always!

Although rare, it’s obviously a concern to learn that a client is unhappy especially when I personally and professionally pride myself on providing a successful design and communication experience with the goal of retaining a lasting relationship. However, its more disappointing to be subjected to a falsely accused review by someone that chose not to be involved with the initial design consultation nor attended the contract review and signing meeting. During my 19 years of design I have always discussed in full all aspects of the design process, provide a formal written design plan (also known as a scope of work) and then once all is agreed upon follow with the formal letter of agreement and retainer request. All information is discussed and agreed upon in full detail prior to beginning any project. Period.

In this instance I met with the client (the wife of a married couple who is also a business owner herself) for several in-home consultations to go over all the details of her home decor and family lifestyle needs. She made it clear to me that she was in charge of the project and the decision maker. After additional follow up emails, texts and call exchanges the client agreed upon and entered into a flat rate fee agreement which included a standard industry percentage assessment on all custom made and wholesale furnishings and lighting (in no way does this represent “double dipping”). The clients husband, and consequently the author of the above review, never came to any of the consultations to understand the procedures and policies of the design process and or to the follow-up meeting with the client to review and secure the contract. Furthermore, this last minute project request was to be completed within five to six weeks prior to the Christmas holiday festivities therefore, the comment made about loss of business is a true statement as my firm turned down several Christmas decorating projects due to the time frame and full attention required to complete this project on time during the same limited time frame.

Given the limited six week time frame we immediately hit the ground running. I even worked on this project in the evenings while in Guadalajara on a buying trip for another client. All the ideas discussed with the client were received positively with excitement. Remarkably, after three weeks of ongoing email, text and phone call exchanges plus initiating drawings for space planning, drawings for custom design furniture and lighting, sourcing for an antique game table on auction sites and Craigslist with the client the clients husband contacted me out of the blue with this statement “my wife jumped too quickly to hire a professional when she should do this herself and we can purchase more furniture with the money instead of paying you”. In the state of California there is a three day right to cancel a contract however, this cancellation came three weeks after billable work had begun. Although the retainer was non refundable, in part due to all the timely work required on the front end of a design project along with reserving billable time in our holiday schedule, I decided to sacrifice the loss of the scheduled and confirmed project we would not be able to recapture with new business due to the time of year this took place. Therefore, in good faith AND with the goal to remain amicable, my firm refunded the balance of the retainer minus the 29 billable hours that were incurred. How disappointing to see such a falsely accused review by someone who chose not to partake in consultations to understand the procedures and policies of a design plan and contract and who appears to be intent to undermine and damage the reputation of someone who dedicates her career to bringing beauty into the lives of others and who also refunded monies that were not even warranted a refund at all.

In closing, I have learned a very valuable lesson; moving forward my policies will reflect that all household members on the deed shall now be required to attend the initial design consultation(s) and must attend the contract review meeting and shall sign the contract jointly. My firm will now no longer allow one person in a household of two to carry the responsibility of understanding and securing a contract.

It’s been an absolute delight to work on your home Nanci! I’m thrilled at how happy both you and Alan are with the results. I wish you great love and happiness celebrating life in your beautiful new home.

Oh Lauren, thank you so very much! I truly appreciate your kindness and generosity. Next stop... your new custom Kitchen! Can’t wait to make this space the heart of the home for you and your beautiful family to create and cherish amazing memories in for many years to come!

Ken, both you and Lindy were an absolute joy to work with even during the challenges that were bestowed upon us. As you know, this is my favorite kitchen design to date. The individualized character and overall rustic design is so incredibly perfect for the architecture of your magnificent home and more importantly, your lifestyle. I feel incredibly blessed and grateful to have been awarded this project. I know it will forever remain one of the most opulent feathers in my design cap!
Wishing you both many, many years of creating eventful memories within this beautiful space!

Oh my gosh Valerie, I am so very humbled by your kind words and generous evaluation. It means the world to me especially from a repeat client. Thank You!!!

It was absolutely my pleasure to come up with something special for your family. I know you all will enjoy cooking and entertaining in this new kitchen for many, many happy and healthy years to come! Xoxo

Oh, thank you Eloy! I so enjoyed working with you and Marylou so much and I'm thrilled you love your new kitchen. May the new year allow you both to celebrate and create wonderful memories in your new space!

Thank you, Eddie!
All of you at Altowood Custom Cabinetry were an absolute delight to work with. Not only did you come in on time and stayed within our allocated budget, You took my design and brought it to life! I have so many favorite areas within this kitchen design and most of them were brought to fruition by you! The carved wood side of the island is my
absolute favorite that I've ever designed, the custom fridge surround to hide an older model Sub zero turned out magnificent, and the more refined faux finish we came up with is absolutely gorgeous! My client is thrilled and so am I. Thank you for being so talented and such a pleasure to work with. Looking forward to our next kitchen project together very soon!

Thank you, Vicki!
I think this kitchen remodel is my favorite kitchen design to date! I'm grateful for your continued confidence in my abilities and for always trusting my vision. More importantly, I'm delighted that you are happy, especially since we didn't follow the "all white trend" and went with something still light and bright but that compliments the warmth of a Santa Barbara Spanish style with some Moroccan influences of what we've already implemented throughout the rest of the home interior design.
It's been an absolute pleasure!
Enjoy with great pride!

Thank you, Fernando!
All of you at Altowood Custom Cabinetry were an absolute delight to work with. Not only did you come in on time and stayed within our allocated budget, You took my design and brought it to life! I have so many favorite areas within this kitchen design and most of them were brought to fruition by you! The carved wood side of the island is my
absolute favorite that I've ever designed, the custom fridge surround to hide an older model Sub zero turned out magnificent, and the more refined faux finish we came up with is absolutely gorgeous! My client is thrilled and so am I. Thank you for being so talented and a pleasure to work with. Looking forward to our next kitchen project together very soon!

Oh my gosh, I am so very humbled by your review, Jaime... thank you, thank you!
You are an absolute delight to work with as well... And, I'm over the moon thrilled that I am able to assist you with your projects even from a great distance. To me, good design is good design so, I am more than happy to share ideas and work within any budget because, let's face it.. most of us aren't of celebrity status with incomes to match... so, it's easy for me to suggest alternative (yet, sometimes unconventional) ways to achieve authentic, stylish and mindful looks without compromising the integrity of the homes architecture, design plan or the quality standard of desired lifestyle. I regularly shop antique shops, resale consignment, Craigslist, Ebay, etc... for quality finds to breathe new life into because to me a home looks and "feels" more inviting with layers of thoughtful finds that tell a story, your story, rather than designing with an entire suite of mass produced pieces from a catalog or showroom.

The project was $10,000 MAX for a huge front interior landscape project with 2 front entrances, tons of large planted pots, trees, custom designed iron brackets for hanging baskets, iron trellises with 12ft climbing roses, all new soil, etc.. . I'm always proud to share that we remained on budget and completed on time, as expected.

However, with a desire to stretch the clients investment dollars even further, I was able to find several extraordinary (and very expensive) large agave and succulents plants from neighboring farms. These FABULOUS finds were provided at no additional charge to the client instead of assessing a standard mark-up, I passed the savings on to my client.

The rose bushes and few other plants that "died" sadly perished because of burn and shock associated with the fact that the client failed to tell us that she is on well system with extremely high salt levels (which she later produced documents showing the higher than acceptable salt level). I took images of the roses and met with my supplier as well as brought a local grower to the property for his expert advice which was when we learned of the high salt levels.. Even though the client is responsible for all care and maintenance after an installation my wholesale supplier generously replaced all of the rose bushes and some climbing roses as a consession to me, some of which were delivered directly to the client. However, after the replacement climbing rose were delivered the client (whom btw both husband and wife are attorneys) called to say she now didn't want the rose bushes replaced and demanded that I replace with something else, which I did AGAIN at no additional cost to the client with specimens such as mexican marigold, sage, lavendar etc.. More importantly, I expressed to the client that she would need to water her landscape from a different city water source or treat her well weekly to reduce the extraordinarily high level of salt as not to burn the newly replaced plants again. However, a few more weeks passed and she failed to do so, so consequently all the plants perished again.

Even though this client expressed on several occasions that she was very pleased with our installation and the design placement of all the specimens she contacted me again a few more weeks later and asked if we could come back out to move a few items which I graciously did AGAIN for her at no additional labor charge. I have to say.. we truly went over and above to try and satisfy this client but enough was enough. At this point I was feeling taken advantage of.

Furthermore, as a lifestyle designer we offer design in all aspects of the home. What is ironic is that this very same client continued to contact me to hire for more services related to the interior of her home i.e master bathroom and bedroom remodel, guest suite and bathroom remodel, 3 kids rooms, etc.. . However, it was all smoke and mirrors as she was just picking my brain for ideas and using my design plan to source online to do the projects herself without committing to compensation for additional design services. When I figured this out I politely excused myself from the equation and chose not to respond to her inquires any further and frankly, I think this is what this negative review is all about. Why would she continue to ask for bids and ideas if she was not satisfied with our work or customer service (?)

I have all documentation and emails transpiring to and from this client expressing how delighted she was (as well as written praise from her neighbors too) with the installation (see below) as well as a timeline of the many emails asking for bids on further projects. We truly tried our very best to offer this client the best costumer service. I pride myself on extending excellent customer service and always provide more than what is expected.

Sometimes giving everything still isn't enough ~

Photos are attached of the work I provided, in addition this project is featured on my Houzz profile with before and after images. It was such a beautiful installation. It saddens me deeply that she still isn't happy even with all our efforts to please her ~

Oh patricia, that is incredibly kind of you to write such a thoughtful review! I started my design journey as a fine European floral and event designer and retailer as well over 15 years ago. Floral design will always remain a true passion of mine. I believe the overall experience helped hone my interior and garden design aesthetic and has made me into the well rounded romantic luxury lifestyle designer that I am today ~ I wish you only the very, very best in pursuing your passion! Please keep me informed of your opening and where!

Thank you kindly, Kathy! You know how much I love to work with you on any of your projects from our incredible floral events in your fabulous Montecito estate to interior design assistance to decorating your fantastic Branded T Ranch in Texas for the holidays. We love it!!! It's always our pleasure ~ looking forward to many many more!

What a nice surprise! Thank you Angela!
Thank you for such lovely sentiments. I'm so looking forward to bringing our retro kitchen and bathroom designs to life in your home. This project is going to be such fun. Can't wait!

Every once in awhile a client does not adhere to agreed upon contract terms and instead of rationally discussing or resolving a situation they would rather go on a defamation of character, slander and libel rampage with a slue of fabricated lies and insults against the professional with the intent to wrongfully and professionally hurt them. Unfortunately, that is the situation that has occurred with this project. After week one of a scheduled three week project this project had to be suspended after the client breached her contract for failure to comply with her agreed upon contractual weekly scheduled payment terms. My team of contractors and I would have loved nothing more than to have completed this project for Ms Doyle, however as professionals, we were justifiably unable to continue this project without adequate and the agreed upon funds provided to do so ~

Thank you so very much Leslie for your generous support and kind heart. I always love helping you discover what makes your heart sing within your artful home and garden environment.. It's absolutely my pleasure! As a fellow artist myself I understand the effect and inspirational importance that our surroundings bestow upon us subliminally. Thank you for sharing your prized possessions and original art work allowing me to capture and display such interest for all to enjoy within your beautiful new home ~
Much love and laughter ~
Leanne

I am forever humbled ~ thank you kindly for such a lovely review. Always a pleasure ~
Leanne

Thank you so very very much Ivan, it is always an absolute pleasure to work with you as well. I am always confident that you will have fine marble slabs and tile to select from but more importantly that my clients and I will always receive impeccable service when I come to meet with you on design projects incorporating natural stone and marble products ~ thank you!

It's certainly so much easier on me Kelly, when I have wonderful places to shop for my clientele such as your fabulous furniture and consignment boutique. Perfect finds for the looks I so love to create and always great prices! I never ever seem to be able to leave empty handed! So happy to have The Rare Bird so close to home and easy to get to whenever I'm "on the prowl" for one of a kind treasures ~

Thank you E for such a special review with such endearing comments. I'm very humbled. Also, thank you so very, very much for referring K&P to me. I truly can't wait to see how their/our master bathroom and bedroom remodel together will turn out next month!
So exciting!

Thank you so much Louise ~ it was such a delight to do and absolutely my pleasure to help create such a festive and joyous environment for your friends and neighbors to enjoy. My crew and I look forward to collaborating with you on many more holiday design projects ~ always my pleasure!

PS... Here are a few photos we took as well ~

Thank you so much Sandy! I'm always delighted to see you and work on your gorgeous Tuscan home with you. How could I not, it's so beautiful ... Looking forward to diverting our attention soon to your garden! It's a Villa De Esté masterpiece just waiting to happen!